Dallas Police Chief David Brown walks arm-in-arm with owner Jerry Jones, safety Barry Church, cornerback Orlando Scandrick and tight end Jason Witten before the start of training camp. Along with them were Magnus Ahrens, 8, the son of slain police officer Lorne Ahrens and his aunt, Erika Swyryn, and tight end James Hanna. Tom FoxAP

Dallas Police Chief David Brown walks arm-in-arm with owner Jerry Jones, safety Barry Church, cornerback Orlando Scandrick and tight end Jason Witten before the start of training camp. Along with them were Magnus Ahrens, 8, the son of slain police officer Lorne Ahrens and his aunt, Erika Swyryn, and tight end James Hanna. Tom FoxAP

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To start the first official practice, the Dallas Cowboys hosted Dallas officials and city leaders, and the family members of four of the five slain DPD officers (video by Mac Engel/Star-Telegram). tengel@star-telegram.com

They may not be qualified for the responsibility and they may not even want it, but the Cowboys are role models who have the power to evoke change, draw attention to issues, and at a minimum start a discussion.

On this one, they all should get in the game because this is not a game. It’s public shootings, innocent lives lost, families and communities wreaked.

The only way you get anywhere is to start by being uncomfortable and the Cowboys players have the power to make us uncomfortable.

It was the idea of tight end Jason Witten to have Brown, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and the 13 family members of four of the five Dallas police officers who were murdered on July 7 to walk arm-in-arm with members of the Dallas Cowboys out to the field Saturday afternoon for the first official practice.

I really do believe that sports, entertainment can have an influence on young people if they were able to strike the right chord in the way they talk about some of these issues.

Dallas police Chief David Brown

It was, as you might imagine, a somber moment and reminder No. 8,342,323 that a single football game is not that big of deal when compared to a single life.

Rawlings told the players, “Play for Dallas like you have never played before.”

This is not the first time the Dallas Cowboys have been asked to alter the identity of a city, or boost the morale for a region and its citizens.

It wasn’t until the success of the Cowboys, plus the popularity of the TV show Dallas, did that reputation change.

What happened on July 7, 2016, is not like Nov. 22, 1963, but it’s a national tragedy that’s created a negative identity about our home. The Cowboys do have an opportunity to change that, and at a minimum should heed the call of the police chief and speak up.

Whether it’s the Black Lives, Police Lives, All Lives, or whatever else lives, it all matters and the Cowboys have the power to speak up and out on this issue. We can disagree on the specifics, but we should all agree something is amiss and not working.

Like the 1960s, there is an opportunity for the Cowboys, and more specifically the individual players, to be something more than simply ballplayers.

“It’s a special privilege to be a part of the Dallas Cowboys, and I think that is a gateway to special and unique experiences to all of us as players and more than anything else it leads to a responsibility,” Witten said. “The responsibility to generations of young kids that look up to us as role models, and the responsibility to our community.”

No one thinks an athlete should raise your kids, but whether we like it or not famous people like Barkley, Witten and so many others are role models. They are visible, they are wealthy, they are famous; these are qualities people aspire to attain.

“We have a platform,” Witten said. “We are difference-makers. We understand that.”

Families members of four of the five Dallas police officers who were killed on July 7 were guests of the Cowboys on Saturday.

Sports has evolved from the days of Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and other activist athletes of the ‘60s to the days of the strong-corporate silent-types such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.

Today’s athletes like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Richard Sherman and others have been far more willing to voice their opinions on issues that should free others to do the same.

We are just out here trying to support the police force struck by this tragedy.

Cowboys safety Barry Church

They are not elected officials, but people listen to Tony Romo, Dez Bryant, Orlando Scandrick, Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, Jason Witten and the rest. They are not all English majors, but they don’t require a publicist or a manicured statement to make reach an audience.

They just need to be real, raw, candid and unafraid. Their individual voices, and stories, have the power to reach far more people than that of a cop or a mayor.

Witten is right, there is a responsibility because a little kid is more apt to hear Dez Bryant than Mike Rawlings.

“For me, sports is a moment where it doesn’t matter where you come from, what color you are — you’re a team,” Rawlings said. “To me, sports is a great metaphor for what we need to be as a society today.”

We should at least start by trying like hell.

Listen to Mac Engel every Tuesday and Thursday on Shan & RJ from 5:30-10 a.m. on 105.3 The Fan.